Coding Club offers crucial education for the future

The rhythmic tapping of keys fills the room as students chatter and chuckle. Music blares from a computer while a student at the front of the room talks. The other kids stare at the board and back down to their computers, typing exactly what’s displayed. Click. Click. Click. This is an average day at the coding club in C105.

“I think coding is important and challenging and will take over in the world,” says Euan Chase, 13, Champions Team. Euan is the founder and head coder of Rachel Carson’s coding club. “Since so many companies use online websites, coders have found themselves in high demand.”

When the after-school clubs were opened to students in September for the 2019-2020 year, Euan wanted to forward his coding skills, and thought the RCMS clubs were the best way to do it. However, after looking long and far for a club that hosted his needs, the grim realization hit him: there simply weren’t any coding clubs. Deciding to do something about it, Euan, along with his friends Ken and Kavin, created a coding club open to everyone.

“I learned how to code in fourth grade,” says Euan. “My friends Ken and Kavin taught me, and they’re both in the club.”

Euan has taken coding to heart and has helped create a website called 2k inc. His company has some apps on the google chrome web store, with their most popular being the Trick or treat, a Halloween-themed clicker game. The 2k inc. staff includes some of his sixth- and fifth-grade friends, most notably Ken and Kavin. His company has also developed a calculator app called “Kalkulator,” which functions as a normal calculator, just with a child’s touch.

“I taught myself how to code,” Ken said. “It is also on the rise, due to the expansion of technology and I believe it will prove to be one of the most important jobs a person can get.”

Code.org is one of the most used coding websites. It also hosts the popular Hour of Code, which encourages students to start learning even just the basics of coding. Fifteen percent of students globally have used Hour of Code. One million teachers use it, and every single U.S. state supports computer science. 

According to bigfuture.collegeboard.org, coding has risen so much, you can get a major in the subject if you study computer science. According to Quora.com, in 2014 there were 18.5 million programmers worldwide and an estimated 21 million today.

The online market for goods is also growing, and companies who decide to transition from store to online are hiring website designers, who have to know how to code.

“Coders are in really high demand,” Euan says. “This is also another reason I enjoy coding and see it as a potential future. I can code my own app, make lots of money and BAM!” He claps his hands. “I’m rich.” 

All the coding club members agree that coding is their future. Euan plans to become a coder one day, dreaming of coding his own app. The coding club also plans to draw as many people into it as possible, before they close in January of 2020. They intend to teach fellow students the importance of coding and how it can help them in the future.

“I wonder what my app will be about,” he thinks out loud. “Perhaps a game,” he grins.

Ms. Sona Sharma, the science teacher on the Champions team and the supervisor of the club, does not know how to code but enjoys watching anyway. 

“The club is for them to spark their passion and to keep it as they grow up,” Ms. Sharma said, smiling. “I think their future will host a lot of tech, and to learn it at a young age will help them as they go on.”